Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 710 - Secrets of the Ancient Tree

Chapter 710 - Secrets of the Ancient Tree

At first, the memories were fragmented, requiring Liu Wuxie to piece them together. As he delved deeper, secrets began to surface, unveiling truths buried in time.

"So, the divine race went through a massive upheaval in ancient times, and many of their members are scattered across the universe. The Divine Light Mountain is just one of them," Liu Wuxie muttered.

The upheaval remained a mystery, and no memories existed about the details. The memories he accessed belonged to divinekin born in the Divine Light Mountain who did not know their original homeland.

This meant Liu Wuxie still didn't know the location of the divine race's base, and such information likely resided only in the minds of the divine race's higher hierarchy.

As he watched the memories, he learned that the divine race had captured many humans throughout the years and conducted experiments on them to study their anatomy and cultivation techniques.

The world was evolving rapidly, especially humans. With their cultivation system perfected over time, their threat to the divine race would increase. But it was a pity Liu Wuxie found no clues about where Murong Yi's parents were held through the memories.

The Divine Light Mountain housed over ten thousand divinekin, each with a role to primarily safeguard the base.

"Finally, information on the Ancestral Tree!" Liu Wuxie found information on the Ancestral Tree through the extracted memories. The memories were highly fragmented and trembled when Liu Wuxie attempted to access them.

Even the faintest recollection of the Ancestral Tree would evoke fear. It was clear that the Ancestral Tree left an indelible mark on the divine race, and the fear was embedded in their souls and passed down through their bloodline. Every inheritance of the divine race's branch contained such fear.

Legends whispered about times when Pangu created the world; it was in a state of primordial chaos. There were no trees, rivers, mountains, air, or spiritual energy.

As the universe gradually evolved, twelve gaseous bodies appeared. They represented metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, thunder, rain, poison, time, and space. The twelve elements shaped the world as it existed to that day.

The elements gave birth to the Twelve Divine Avatars, each presiding over one of the elements. From the divinekins’ memories, Liu Wuxie learned that the birth of the Ancestral Tree predated even the Twelve Divine Avatars in the form of a seed.

It was said that the wood of Pangu's axe was nourished by primal chaos after the universe was created, and it developed into the first tree in the universe. This was the origin of the Ancestral Tree, which could be traced back to Pangu's weapon.

When the world was formed, there was no day and night, only the twelve swirling elemental energies, and it was filled with primal chaos. As there was no night, this led to an imbalance in the world. Primal chaos continued to accumulate and devour the surrounding energies to form a black hole.

As the black hole grew more extensive, the places it consumed plunged into darkness.

Right then, light and dark appeared in the world, giving birth to Yin and Yang, black and white. The two energies were imbalanced in the beginning, with long days and short nights. But as time passed, the days and nights finally found a balance.

As the black hole formed by primal chaos was further compressed, it was shaped into the Primal Chaos Cauldron, capable of devouring any elemental force in the world. This was the origin of the Primal Chaos Cauldron.

Though the memories were fragmented, Liu Wuxie managed to piece them together and came to his conclusion. He was surprised by the origin of the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, but what about the Desolate Devouring Art?

"Could it be the cultivation technique used by Pangu?" A bold thought took root in Liu Wuxie's mind, shocking him. After all, Pangu was the creator of the universe, a legendary existence shrouded in mystery, with no one knowing if he truly existed.

No one has managed to surpass Pangu since ancient times, and his legends had only been recorded in ancient texts.

Liu Wuxie soon shook his head vigorously, dismissing the absurd thought. In contrast, he could still accept the Ancestral Tree's origin, but it was still uncertain if it originated from the wooden handle of Pangu's axe.

However, one thing remained clear: the Ancestral Tree had appeared during the birth of the universe. If Liu Wuxie hadn’t witnessed She Bishi’s attempted resurrection with his own eyes, he too would have dismissed their existence as mere legend.

With the appearance of the Twelve Divine Avatars, Liu Wuxie felt the secrets of the universe were more complicated than he had ever imagined. He previously thought he would stand at the pinnacle of the universe by becoming an Immortal Emperor.

But the reality was much different; many mysteries, such as the divine race, witcher clan, and spirit clan, were still to be discovered!

He was still uncertain if more races would emerge, but he now had a rough understanding of the origins of the Ancestral Tree and Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron.

As for whether he should call it the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron or the Primal Chaos Cauldron, it didn't matter to him as it was just a name. Moreover, primal chaos had long vanished from the world.

During his time in the Celestial Realm, Liu Wuxie had heard that primal chaos was the oldest and most suitable energy for cultivators. The spiritual energy refined by cultivators was merely a derivative of primal chaos.

There was still the creation energy that could occasionally be found in the Celestial Realm, ranking even higher than immortal energy.

The birth of the divine race must've threatened the universe, which had likely prompted the Ancestral Tree to eliminate them. After all, it wasn't baseless to say that the emergence of the divine race would bring calamity to the universe.

Since Pangu had created the world, he wouldn't allow it to be destroyed. Coincidentally, the birth of the Ancestral Tree served as the divine race's nemesis.

When Liu Wuxie's divine sense entered the desolate world, he fell into deep thoughts when his gaze fell upon the four fruits hanging on the Ancestral Tree. From the memories he had obtained, these fruits were known as Divine Fruits with infinite miraculous uses.

However, their exact effect remained unknown, as even the memories of the divinekin offered no insight. This was why he didn't dare take them recklessly. If the Divine Fruits were poisonous, they might harm the desolate world.

After organizing all the information, Liu Wuxie steadied his thoughts, focusing on the most pressing task: rescuing Murong Yi’s parents. From the fragmented memories of the three divinekin, he learned of another location apart from the caves—a highly concealed area rarely frequented by the divinekin.

He immediately took out the map to search for that location. Though the memories were fragmented, he could pinpoint the location.

The divine race's patrols were significantly reduced at this moment. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Wuxie streaked across the night like a meteor, and his dark attire allowed him to blend seamlessly into the darkness.

After refining four divinekin, the divine energy in his body had grown increasingly pure. Even if he stood face-to-face with a divinekin, it would be difficult for them to detect him.

Liu Wuxie traversed the valley and arrived at an area overgrown with dense vegetation, a place rarely visited by the divine race.

He slowed down his pace through the dense grass and quickly concealed himself behind a rock when he caught the faint sound of movement in the distance. Two divinekin were walking over.

"What are they doing here in the middle of the night?" Liu Wuxie was puzzled and held his breath, not daring to make a sound. There was no hiding place here, and he would be hunted down if discovered.

Although the Ancestral Tree was the divine race's nemesis, Liu Wuxie wasn't arrogant enough to underestimate the divine race. They had many experts at the level of the True Profound Realm, capable of crushing him with a single strike.

He remained vigilant, resolved to flee at the first sign of danger, not wanting to put his life at needless risk.

"Damn it! Why are we sent here to patrol in the middle of the night?" One of the divinekin grumbled.

After absorbing the memories, Liu Wuxie could now understand their language to a significant extent. His inability to speak it fluently didn't affect his understanding.

"We still don't know if it was a profound beast or a human that intruded here, "the other divinekin replied. Even after an entire day, they couldn't find any news.

They had learned of the Ancestral Tree's appearance, but they didn't know any further information. After all, powerful, profound beasts would occasionally intrude in the valley, and the divine race had long gotten used to it, which wasn't very surprising.

The reason why so many people were mobilized was due to the appearance of the Ancestral Tree.

"It can't be a human. All the nearby humans were wiped out years ago," the first divinekin cursed. They walked past Liu Wuxie and headed deeper in.

Liu Wuxie waited until they had gone far away before quietly following behind them. He had a feeling this place might hold a secret.

"What's the God-King thinking by keeping the humans alive? We have practically researched everything about them, and there's no reason to keep them around. Why not just kill them?"

The sudden conversation made Liu Wuxie tense. He wondered if the humans imprisoned were Murong Yi's parents and relatives.

"Stop complaining. The God King naturally has his reasons. But these humans are too stubborn, and there is much more we still don't know about their kind," said the other divinekin.

The rapid development of humans had drawn the divine race's attention, compelling them to investigate thoroughly. For Liu Wuxie, this information was crucial, as it was highly likely that Murong Yi's parents were imprisoned in this area.

He had no clue about their exact location, and he could only follow behind the two divinekin.

As they ventured deeper, the grass grew over a meter high, providing natural concealment and making it difficult to spot anyone moving within. Occasionally, small profound beasts appeared, startled by their approach, and scurried away into the undergrowth.

After traversing the dense region, they arrived at a stone wall. From a distance, the wall appeared pitch-black, likely stained by years of smoke—an unmistakable sign that someone inhabited the area.

As cracking sounds were heard from the stone wall, it was like a massive iron gate being lifted that stood out in the night and could be heard even from afar.

Liu Wuxie executed Ghost Eye and could see an iron gate that reached five meters in width. There were divinekin guarding the entrance, but they were dozing off by the side.

The two divinekin Liu Wuxie had been trailing did not enter; their task was merely to patrol the area. After ensuring no immediate threats, they retreated into a nearby passage.

Even from hundreds of meters away, Liu Wuxie could catch on to the faint stench of decay wafting through the air. If the Murong Clan had been imprisoned there for twenty years, their survival would be miraculous.

The four divinekin sat in a circle, idly chatting. From their conversation, Liu Wuxie gathered more information on the divine race.

"Have you heard? The Central Plains has opened the Astral Domain Path, a golden opportunity for us, the divine race. We can use the Astral Domain Path to return to our ancestral tribe!" one of the divinekin sitting in the middle said with a longing expression. It was evident they had grown tired of their lives in this place.